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It was celebration time for us, and by now as you may have figured from the last few months of posts, our go-to place to treat ourselves to a sumptuous lunch after achieving a big win was the Turret Cafe Ballarat on Sturt Street.

Hopefully readers aren’t getting bored of this! I assure you, they don’t pay us for these- we just like going there! Why? probably the relaxed atmosphere.

It’s a bustling, slightly noisy space, but it has a great look, feel and smell to it. That, and it’s on the right part of strut street, where free parking can be found only half a block away, rather than have to worry about overstaying a ripoff voucher meter further into town.

Treat # was the grilled Saganaki cheese on turkish bread with onion, basil and tomato.

Yeah, it looks small, doesn’t it? But good things come in satisfying sized packages, and this is no exception.

For a small price of $16.50… its pretty decent value for a deceptively simple, but very well prepared and balanced treat.

Treat #2 consisted of the Prawn, Chorizo & Chilli Linguine.

Don’t be fooled by the picture- it’s a LOT bigger than it looks and is a very generous serve that left more than enough for both myself, and the lass who stole quite a bit off my plate at every opportunity. I should also mention that the prawns in this are BIG and numerous too!

For a restaurant that is best described as modern Australian or fusion and not an Italian specialist.. they got the pasta just right! fresh cooked, and not soggy or sloppy.

There isn’t much left on the menu we have not tried yet which isn’t a breakfast item.

Just the lamb back strap, and some of the more exotic salads. Till next time!

Starving hungry after a long shift at work, I was driving down Howitt street Wendouree when I saw the familiar and tastebud friendly lights of the I love burgers and kebabs burger van, glowing in the distance.

Normally, I go the HSP with these guys, pretty much because it’s the BEST HSP in Ballarat, but tonight, such glottony by myself seemd unjustfyable, even if it was incredibly tempting.

The idea of the chicken burger- “bird is the word” had been catching my attention a lot, the last couple of trips here mostly because of the mention of the fact that the recipe for the fried chicken inside was stolen from the proprietor’s father… suggesting a long standing, tried and true crowd pleasing recipe…

But in this case, the sheer fact that it advertised “raw slaw” content was enough for me to make a weak justification for my guilty purchase to the lass when i came home smelling of delicious burgers later in the night. I could at least say I’d had some salad/greens/whatever a cabbage counts as.

I guess i’d conveniently NOT mention that I’d up sized to the drink and chippies option. (It’s a mandatory, not optional thing, right? I mean, it’s beer battered crisp, golden chips and kirks’s pasito! not negotiable complementary goods to a satisfying burger meal!)

MmmmMmmm! check out that thick, crispy, juicy DOUBLE HIT of fried chicken in that there burger, and a good squirt of tangy sauce!!

After our first trip to the turret, and watching all the mouth watering looking meals float effortlessly past our noses, propelled by the light footed and very suave staff at the turret cafe, we vowed to come back again next time we were in the area to try out the sumptuous and tempting lunchtime menu.

After agonizing over the menu for a while, and craning our necks to catch a glimpse of the day’s popular meals, we finally ordered.

It can be a little difficult to catch the eye of the staff when it’s busy, but that’s perfectly understandable. Wrestling with the cash register, and what looked like cantankerous old ladies pushing for a split bill on their table can take some time and patience.

Staff are polite and efficient, and the meals came out pretty quickly.

I went with the lime, slaw and pulled pork slider burger special, as depicted alongside.

The brioche buns are really, really good- probably made fresh on site, and the burgers as a set, make up a pretty substantial meal, as one would expect, for around $25! I certainly didn’t feel hungry afterward.

What was saddening was that while the first slider burger bun was great.. the second and third seemed a bit bland and boring afterward- just a lack of variety I’m afraid. That, and I’d forgotten why I have not ordered a pulled pork bun for ages-

I’ve never been super-duper impressed by pulled pork. Bit of a gimmicky hipster Melbourne thing, and I was all porked out a few years ago as a result in the CBD.

That said, with 3 buns, 3 different sauces or variations would have been a nice touch.

Quite an ordering mistake on my behalf… what caught my eye immediately was the Moroccan lamb Tagine with almonds, but the lass wanted that, so I deferred to her and chose something else.